Page 126 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

IT TAKES MORE THAN
15 POUNDS OF WILD FISH
TO PRODUCE 1 POUND
OF FARMED TUNA.

Depleting wild fish stocks for feed. Producing fish feed is extremely
inefficient. It takes more than 15 pounds of wild fish to produce
1 pound of farmed tuna. This practice ravages stocks of certain
“forage fish” (anchovies, herring, menhaden) to make fish meal
and fish oil to feed the fish whose wild stocks you’re suppos-
edly offsetting by enhancing the total supply. Not a great trade.
Environmental impact. Spillage or intentional discharge of the
toxic chemicals used for the aforementioned crowded net
pens or ponds, not to mention waste, can damage surrounding
waters and the life within them.

STILL, BEFORE WE EXILE THE FOOD CATEGORY ENTIRELY,
HERE’S AN IMPORTANT CAVEAT:
Not all food that comes from aquaculture (the business of fish farming)
is the same.
Bivalves —mussels, clams, scallops, and oysters—are
farmed more responsibly. They’re not carnivores, so
they don’t require wild fish. Moreover, because shellfish
are filter feeders, water quality is often improved as a
result of their taking up residence.

Farmed fish systems that use recirculated, treated water
for fish in tanks (on land) generally don’t negatively

Stuff That comes from animals 115

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